As the AI world heats up with competition, ways to stand out are becoming harder to come across. Perplexity, the AI search tool, has taken a more unique approach, diving into the world of chat-powered shopping.
Announcing a partnership with PayPal, Perplexity will now let users in the U.S. make purchases directly in the chatbot. This will include booking flights, buying products, and getting your hands on concert tickets without having to leave the Perplexity platform.
This will be a big move for Perplexity as it looks to take on more of the web search volume. Unlike some of its competitors, like ChatGPT and Gemini, Perplexity has tried to position itself more as a search engine than a chatbot.
"Perplexity wants to have accurate, trustworthy answers wherever people are making decisions. PayPal is a natural partner because we share a vision for how important trust is in the age of AI," said Aravind Srinivas, Cofounder and CEO of Perplexity, in an announcement of the news.
How will this work?
Behind the scenes, PayPal will handle payments, shipping, tracking, and invoicing. They plan to use secure systems like personalized token wallets and unique passkey systems that would eliminate the need for passwords and allow users to complete everything in one click.
Customers will be able to use either PayPal or Venmo to complete their purchases. While exact details are still unclear, it is likely that the process will allow users to complete purchases through Perplexity search.
For example, when searching “When is a good time to fly to Barcelona?” and presenting the information, users will also be able to book flights directly from Perplexity.
Customers will be able to use either PayPal or Venmo to complete their purchases. While exact details are still unclear, it is likely that the process will allow users to complete purchases through Perplexity search.
This isn’t the first time that Perplexity has taken a step into the world of e-commerce. In late 2024, the app offered a shopping feature in its pro plan, partnering with sellers via platforms like Shopify.
The partnership with PayPal marks the next step of this, completing transactions directly from Perplexity.
This seems like the logical next step for AI and chatbots, and yet, ChatGPT, Gemini and other competitors are yet to release anything similar.
However, the shift is already on its way. Last month, Visa announced its “new era of commerce”, partnering with large AI platforms to introduce shopping features in partnership with chatbots.
In the same month, Mastercard also announced a similar intention, parterning with Microsoft to build out a shopping system through Microsoft’s different AI platforms.
Of course, this kind of technology will require safeguarding and will be limited in its ability in the early stages, but this could well be how we all shop in the near future.
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